M G Leonard

Darkus's dad has disappeared - but his new friend, a giant beetle called Baxter, is some consolation. Together, boy and beetle set out to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. But Lucretia Cutter - a fashion designer with a penchant for beetle jewellery - is dead set against their success .

Cruel beetle fashionista, Lucretia Cutter, is at large with her yellow ladybird spies - and she has a devious plan. Darkus, Virginia and Bertolt are determined to stop her, but Darkus's dad is dead set against their involvement. Hope rests on Novak, Lucretia's daughter and a Hollywood actress, but the beetle diva is always one scuttle ahead ...

Cruel beetle fashionista, Lucretia Cutter, is at large with her deadly yellow ladybug spies -- and she has a devious plan. When Darkus, Virginia, and Bertolt discover further evidence of her evil, they're determined to stop her....

After his father goes missing, Darkus moves in with his eccentric uncle and cousins and discovers that the beetles infesting their home are an intelligent super-species in danger of extermination at the hands of a mad scientist.